Here’s Why You’re Seeing ‘Store Closed’ Signs at Reston Town Center’s Vapiano

Locals may have noticed that Vapiano, a restaurant chain that serves up Italian food in a fast-casual setting, keeps posting “store closed” signs at the Reston Town Center restaurant.

The closures are temporary as the Reston location (1875 Explorer Street) undergoes management changes and payment delays for staff, which have now been resolved.

Back in January, Vapiano SE, which operates the international restaurant chain, announced it would sell its shares of Vapiano Holding USA, LLC and seven of its subsidiaries in the U.S. to Plutos Sama Holdings Inc.

An attorney representing Vapiano’s new owners told Reston Now that the temporary closures are due to a transiton to a new general manager at the restaurant.

“We wanted to make sure that we trained him properly,” said Matthew Browndorf, the founding partner at Wilson Keadjian Browndorf LLP. He added that training has caused a “little bit of a disruption.”

Training is not the only reason why tensions have flared at the restaurant.

Andrew Corcoran, a managing partner for Wilson Keadjian Browndorf, LLP, told Reston Now that a transition in the payroll system caused a “slight delay” for employees who tried to cash their checks on payday, but that the payment problems and confusion have now been addressed.

Both Corcoran and Browndorf say that all of the staff have been paid now. Each Vapiano location has about 40 employees, Corcoran said.

Corcoran said he saw the “store closed” sign, which urged locals to go to the two locations in D.C., on Saturday (March 9) morning. The sign came down and the restaurant opened up that night and remained open over the weekend, Corcoran and Browndorf said.

Then during the late afternoon on Monday (March 11), Vapiano closed again.

Reston Now spotted a new sign on the door on Tuesday afternoon saying that the restaurant was set to open at 5 p.m. Corcoran said training was why the restaurant planned to open later that day.

The restaurant didn’t reopen, though. A local sent Reston Now a photo of a new sign on the door Tuesday evening that said in all capital letters: “Store closed. Vapiano will return to regular business hours Wednesday March 13, 209. Sorry for the inconvenience,” signed “Management.”

“The schedule was thinly staffed to begin with and some staff unexpectedly called out for illnesses and other personal issues, leaving the location unable to open,” Corcoran told Reston Now this morning.

Now, the restaurant is expecting to reopen today at 11 a.m., Corcoran said.